NYX Angel Veil

Hi everyone! If anyone of you read my previous post you will have seen that last weekend I was in Manchester doing some Christmas shopping, the great thing about visiting bigger cities to go shopping is that I can get hold of some products that I might only be able to find online and I don't know about you but I'd much rather see something in person before I buy it rather than get it online. I recently discovered NYX and I've loved the products that I have tried but I could only find it from the NYX UK website or on Selfridges, so when I was in Manchester and saw they had a stand in Boots I was so excited! I'm really into primers at the minute, I think when you have problematic skin like me a primer can make such a difference to your make up so I definitely buy into them, I'd heard about NYX's Angel Veil primer before and people seemed to like it so I picked it up in the shop and I have now tried and tested it to share my thoughts with you!

This primer basically sells itself on giving you that smooth velvet looking skin that everyone loves, one thing I think is lacking however is that it doesn't say what skin type it would work for and normally I've never had an issue with this however in this case sadly I did. I think it's important to bear in mind that I have dry skin and it is nearly December so it's very cold and my skin has lost all hydration and is now extra dry and when I used this primer I felt like all it did was dry me out further and I was so self conscious because you could see all my dry patches, the flaky skin on my nose stood out when normally primers I use can disguise this along with my foundation.

The primer is white and has a fairly thick consistency, once blended it becomes invisible but you can feel it on your fingers after application, you know when it's blended in but it almost has a powdery feel? I definitely had that, it was such a shame because I had such high hopes for this product and the name Angel Veil to me kind of gives off that healthy glow look but it was so different from what I imagined and I think this is down to lack of information that I could find about it.

It did have it's good points though, I felt like my makeup wasn't going to transfer at all, I could definitely tell it was going to stay put. The biggest issue was simply the fact that my skin is so dry and it just didn't work for me however if you have oily skin I think you would really like this because it will give your makeup that satin look, in the areas on my face where my skin is relatively normal my makeup did apply smoother. At £12 as well it wasn't really a splurge so I think it's worth trying if your skin is oily because you might love it, it just sadly didn't work for me. I'm still on the hunt for my new favourite primer as nothing has beat Illamasqua's Hydra Veil yet however I've got the Becca Backlight Priming Filter as one of my Christmas presents so I absolutely cannot wait to try that! Let me know in the comments if you've tried any NYX products and what you think!

Lush Christmas Haul

Hi everyone! So I just got back from a lovely weekend in Manchester to do some Christmas shopping and visit the Christmas markets, they're amazing by the way however very very busy! We went on the Saturday and you could hardly move so if you are thinking about going I would definitely recommend going on a weekday as it will be much quieter and you will enjoy it a lot more. The food at the markets is insanely good, I had a spicy bratwurst and then chocolate covered strawberries from a Bavarian sweet stand and they were so nice! Anyway I had to pay a visit to Lush while I was there and I haven't been to the store in a while so it was so good to see all the Christmas stuff out and I obviously had to buy some!

From left to right:

- Golden Wonder. This one is huge and it smells amazing, it's got a lime oil and sweet orange scent so it has a really refreshing citrus scent. The website says that if you shake it you'll hear hidden contents and once it is in the bath it reveals a sparkling turquoise explosion. This one sounds so cool I actually can't wait to use it!

- Butterbear. This one is probably one of my favourites it's so cute and it has the nicest subtle smell, it's vanilla scented and it has cocoa butter in it so it will be really moisturising, plus it is really cute! It's also only £1,95 which I think is really good and it is one of the cheaper products from the Christmas range.

- Father Christmas. This is another massive one, I really really like this it looks so cool and the scent reminds me a lot of Snow Fairy. The website says it smells like sweet spun candyfloss and that once it is in the bath it reveals a holly green centre so I am very excited to use this! 

- Snow Angel. This one is a bath melt rather than a bath bomb and I really love the website's description of this it says that it 'dissolves into a flurry of snow, blanket your bath in white foam before revealing a shimmering golden glow'. This is another one with cocoa butter in so it will nice and moisturising, it has a marzipan scent however it is really subtle as I don't like marzipan but this smells lovely and it has a hint of rose in it which balances it out really nicely. 

- Snow Fairy. Would it really be a Lush Christmas haul without getting this product? It smells amazing and it is so popular, I was chatting to the woman at the till who was saying that they get customers coming in around May asking if Snow Fairy is back yet, people love it! They actually have a massive 1kg bottle of it selling for £21.35 I believe so if you love to stock up for the year then that would be really good value for you, I got the 250g one for £7.95 which I think is a bit pricey for shower gel however it's so worth it! It's candyfloss scented and it smells so good you want to eat it, I just love it and the scent reminds me so much of Christmas now!

I didn't actually get any bubble bars because I'm not too keen on them, I prefer just chucking a bath bomb in and then you're done but they did have some really nice bubble bars as well so make sure you have a look if you go in the shop. I don't know about anyone else but I am 100% in the Christmas spirit now, I've only got three weeks left until I break up from uni, my work Christmas party is in two weeks now and I've nearly finished all my shopping so I am feeling very organised and festive even though it's only November! Let me know in the comments if you've bought any of Lush's Christmas range and what you've been loving!

Soap & Glory GLAM-O-FLAGE

Hi everyone! Apologies for the lack of posts the past week I have been completely swamped with uni work, if any of you are in your 3rd year at uni or have experienced it before then you will definitely know what I mean! In fact as we speak I am writing this post listening to Justin Bieber's new album (which is amazing by the way) to take a break from preparing for a presentation I have to do in my seminar tomorrow, I have got the presentation fear right now, public speaking is not my idea of fun. So what better way to make my self feel better than talk about Christmas gifts! I absolutely love Soap & Glory but I love them 10x more at Christmas, my Mum usually gets be the big gift box they release quite close to Christmas full of really cool stuff however I still haven't used the one from last year because you get so much in it so when I saw this really cool make up set I really wanted to try it, especially considering I had never tried any Soap & Glory make up before.

I bought this set from Boots and it retails at £20 which I think is such a good price considering how much you get inside the set and it's a really good way for you to try a bunch of products from a brand you have never tried before so you can find out what you like. The set includes:

- Glow All Out luminising face powder

- Supercat carbon black eyeliner pen

- Thick & Fast high definition collagen coat mascara

- Sexy Mother Pucker lip lacquer in Charm Offensive 

- Lid Stuff shadow shades in Cream Soda, Copper & Choccy

You also get two brushes in this set, one for your eye shadows and one for your highlighter. I actually really love this and I think it's such good value, if you haven't seen any of Soap & Glory's 2015 Christmas range then you definitely need to have a look because they have some really good stuff in! Let me know in the comments the best Christmas gifts you've seen out so far I'm always looking for more to add to my list!

Too Faced Love Palette

Hi everyone! Can't believe this is my 50th blog post, it's insane how fast time goes! I know my previous post was on an eye shadow palette but I actually had another delivery the same day I got my Morphe 35O palette which you can read about here and it is the Too Faced Love Palette. I had wanted this for a while, I believe it came out in the summer but it wasn't available to buy in the UK until very recently when I was scrolling Debenhams and they had it in stock! Too Faced's Chocolate Bar palette is my all time favourite, I think the quality is so amazing and rather than getting the Semi-Sweet palette which I thought was pointless because they're so similar I got this one to try for something a bit different. Also something I was surprised at considering the Chocolate Bar palettes are so expensive at £39 is that this was only £27, much cheaper and you get around the same amount of product so that was a bonus! I didn't have my hopes too high actually, I knew I'd like it but when it arrived I was so surprised at how gorgeous it is! Pictures really don't do this justice which I think any of you who have it will agree with.

It is just so insanely pretty! You get 15 shades which are a mixture of shimmer, pearl and matte finishes. On the packaging it says it is inspired by the 'lost art of love letters' and that it creates 'the most romantic looks of all time'. I would definitely agree with this, I think the shades are so feminine and pretty and just amazing! The website also states that these shadows were created with a slurry powder technology giving them a smooth creamy texture, this is 100% correct they are up there with the creamiest eye shadows I have ever used they are so nice and blendable, I could literally go on for ages about how nice this palette actually is!

The packaging is so pretty as well, my only problem is that it is a bit bulky, I feel like it could be slimmer although it isn't massive! Also it is a bit awkward to open at first, this makes me sound so stupid but I was really confused, I got there in the end though! It comes in a really pretty box as well that looks like a cute letter.

You basically get a set of three eye shadows all with their own name, although you can mix it up if you want to I think it is just to match the three looks you are given with the palette although I will go into them later! The first one on the left is called Pure Love.

From left to right the shades are Dearest, Cherish, Desire, Amorous & Adore. 

I should have swatched them heavier because this picture doesn't do them justice at all but this set from the palette is probably my favourite, especially Adore! it shows up quite coppery in this picture but it is more of a cranberry shade in really life and I just love it!

From True Love the shades left to right are Passion, Smitten, Romance, Obsessed & Sweetie Pie

Again this picture doesn't show how amazing they are, especially Passion and Sweetie Pie, they are the prettiest, girliest shades ever!

From Forbidden Love the shades left to right are Darling, Devotion, Puppy Love, Everlasting & XOXO

I am in love with these ones, normally I would never even contemplate a green eye shadow but Darling is so pretty and wearable, I think you will be able to come up with so many gorgeous looks from this palette, I'm just obsessed!

You also get an eyeliner pencil, with the eyeliner on once side and what I am assuming is a smudger on the other side? Not too sure, I'm guessing that's what it is but there isn't much information on that. Another thing that I love about this palette is that behind the mirror you get three different looks you can create with a day and night look from each eye shadow set.

I am obsessed with this palette, I think it is such good value for everything that comes with it, and as always with Too Faced the quality is amazing! I think this would be the perfect Christmas present and for me it would be so good for all the events that happen at Christmas like your Christmas parties etc, it's just so nice! Debenhams also have the Love Flush blushes in stock now which I think have just become available in the UK, I'm desperate to try those as well but they are expensive so I might have to wait for them! Let me know in the comments if you've got this palette and what you think!

Morphe 35O Palette

Hi everyone! So excited to finally be writing this post because this product has been a nightmare for me to get my hands on! I'd heard of the Morphe 35O palette from Jaclyn Hill and I fell in love instantly, it was heaven for anyone who loves warm tones plus the palettes themselves are such good value for money. However as soon as this would go on sale it would sell out so quickly, on top of that you had to get it shipped from the US as there was no stockists in the UK that sold this palette. I saw that it was on sale again and I was debating whether to get it, as it was actually a pre-sale and the palette wouldn't actually be shipping until around a month after you had bought it, along with the shipping time to the UK on top of that. I gave in however and bought it and waited for what felt like a lifetime for it to finally get shipped. Then I got the email to say it had shipped after about a month, two weeks after that it has finally arrived and it is AMAZING! So worth the wait, I'm just in love!

I was so happy when I opened it and saw how pretty it was! It features 35 matte and shimmering shadows so it is such good value for money! It is very convenient that it arrived today actually because I was scrolling Cult Beauty today, a UK website that I actually love and saw that they were stocking it and it is available right now! You can get it here for only £25, I wish I'd known about this a month ago! However I don't know how long it will be in stock for so if you want it I would get it fast! 

The quality is so good as well, you'd think for such a good price such a large palette the quality would suffer however it doesn't at all. I do prefer the shimmer shades to the mattes, the mattes aren't bad it's just the shimmer shades are amazing! I have done some swatches of a few of the shades that stood out to me.

I'm obsessed with the middle shade in this picture it's so pretty! Bear in mind these aren't the heaviest swatches and the pigmentation is actually really good! They are very creamy and blendable, I am really impressed with the quality. As it includes 35 shades I knew it wasn't going to be the smallest palette ever but it isn't as ginormous as I thought it would be and surprisingly it isn't bulky at all.

I actually think this is the perfect Autumn palette, I love warm tones as well so I will be getting so much use out of this! Let me know what you think of this palette or any other Morphe products!